For those of you who were still children in the 90s and early 2000s, you will know this one game console. Yep, this is Nintendo 64 or also known as N64. N64 is the fifth generation game console made by Nintendo which brings new technologies. The technology is the Rumble Pak vibration technology (known in the PlayStation as DualShock) and features an analog stick that allows players to explore 3D games more freely.
This game console is very rare and there are no new games that support it on this console. However, if you want to reminisce about the games that have Nintendo 64, these 5 Nintendo 64 emulators for Android and PC might be able to treat your longing.
1. Project64 (Windows)
One of the most popular and easy to use N64 emulators is Project64. The Project64 fan community consistently incorporates changes to GitHub, fixing bugs both minor and major. Newer versions of Project64 already feature a video or audio plugin for certain games.
Project 64 lets you play with USB controllers, features save states and even lets you play at high resolution. The main drawback of Project 64 is the sometimes inconsistent audio.
Development for non-Windows versions of Project64 has improved over the years. For now, if you are using Windows and looking for an emulator with a cool interface to play tons of Nintendo 64 games, Project64 is the right choice.
2. Mupen64Plus (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
Mupen64Plus is not as easy to use as Project64, but it provides a better audio experience. If you experience problems with certain games on Project64, then you should give Mupen64Plus a try. By default, Mupen64Plus does not have a user interface. Instead, you boot the ROM via the command prompt (cmd). You can add a front-end user interface by downloading additional plug-ins such as M64Py, which is specially designed for Mupen64Plus.
Mupen64Plus has the advantage of being compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. This makes it the best choice for Mac and Linux users and an alternative option for PC users if Project64 is experiencing frequent problems with certain games.
3. Mupen64Plus FZ (Android)
Even though Mupen64Plus is available on Android, this emulator version is specially designed for mobile devices. This emulator is still a bit of a hassle to set up, but once everything is ready to play, Mupen64Plus FZ offers the best N64 emulation on Android. All the plugins that you want to install are available and you must download the front-end user interface if you want to play Nintendo 64 games with this emulator.
4. MegaN64 (Android)
MegaN64, a tweaked version of Mupen64 Plus, is by far the most popular emulator on Android, with over 900,000 reviews and an average user rating of 4.6. Very impressive value. What you get with MegaN64 is a great N64 emulator, very powerful and very user friendly. Games must be installed to a microSD card to play them. Games load instantly and most of the Nintendo 64 games run flawlessly on this emulator.
5. RetroArch (multi-platform)
RetroArch is a front-end graphical user interface, not technically an emulator. However, you can download emulator cores to play games on multiple platforms (PC, mobile, console). For N64 emulation, RetroArch uses a libretro core similar to Mupen64Plus. However, RetroArch has a number of different differences such as overclocking and more customization features.
In some ways, RetroArch N64 cores like Project64 and Mupen64Plus. RetroArch also has a very slick "paraLLEl core" that delivers high-resolution visuals to N64 games.
For those of you who miss the games on the Nintendo 64 console that were released decades ago, the 5 emulators above can be a remedy for your longing to play Nintendo 64 games.
You are welcome to share your ideas in comments.